Picker and method of making same



July 11, 1944. w. GILLET ETAL.

PICKER AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed May 27, 1941 fee 60 Patented July11, 194M-k lUNITED STATES (PA William Gillet and Ed A. Ahlstrand,Atlanta, Ga., & Knight Company,

Mass., and David assignors to Graton Worcester, Mass., a co settarporation ot Massachu- Application May 27, 1941, Serial No. 395,344

1 Claim.

Our present invention is an improved picker, and a method of makingsame, such picker being for use on a picker stick in a loom. The pickeris engaged by the point of the shuttle and is the contacting means forthrowing the shuttle across the loom and for receiving the shuttle as itis returned. Such pickers thus involve a high degree of wear and strainas the entire operation o1' applying power thru the picker stick tothrow the shuttle and to receive the shuttle after its passage acrossthe loom is taken up by the'picker.

Formerly such pickers were made of leather, rubber, or the like,`asconstituting a wear-resisting `and shock-absorbing material, which willthus stand up under the severe wear involved, and which wear isespecially heavy in the present modern high-speed looms.

Our invention is directed to improve and perlect pickers, and moreparticularly to provide a balanced construction which will insure evenwear, uniform action, and longer life. For this purpose, we haveimproved the type of picker illustrated in U. S. Patent No. 1,904,316,dated April 18, 1933, wherein a leather pickeris provided with apre-formed or pre-molded central recess to engage the end portion of theshuttle back of the shuttle point, thus transmitting all strains andblows from the shuttle thru the picker on a conical surface ofsubstantial area.

A serious dilculty with the construction of prior pickers was that the-loop constituting the picker stick-engaging portion was eccentricrelatively with `the face ofn the picker, which latter contacted theshuttle. Therefore, the strains; stresses, and consequent Wear wouldwork unevenly thru the mass of the picker as the shuttlengaging point,with the constant hammerlngincident to use, would tend to work in anon-symmetrical manner, and the picker would be quickly worn out.Furthermore, such unevenness between the shuttle-engaging face of thepicker and the stick-engaging loop of the picker resulted in adistortion or twisting, which still further caused the picker to wearunevenly and, hence, was unsatisfactory.

A further diiliculty with such prior pickers of the type of said patent,or of other leather pickers wherein the shuttle formed its own recessthru use, was that the wear caused by the constant hammering and blowsimparted to and thru the picker would distort the recess and thus throwthe entire contact between the picker and shuttle in an eccentricposition, thereby quickly destroying the eilciency of the picker.

This difliculty resulted largely because of the fact that theshuttle-receiving recess in the picker had to be positioned as near thebottom of the shuttle box on which the shuttle would rest and slide and,hence, near the lower part of the picker itself, and, furthermore,because of the constant variation in the density of leather.

Our present invention obviam the diillculties above briefly outlined andresults in a balanced construction, insuring more even wear, providingfor alignment between the shuttle-receiving portion `or recess in theface of the pisser and the sticlc-engaging portion, thus preverrtinTTtwisting, uneven wear, and insuring longer l t and usefulness in thepiclter of our improved construction made by our novel process.

We accomplish these desirable results by a novel and simple method ofmanufacturing the picker, of yielding material, preferably leather, andin the form of a strip, or strips, for the outer part and a plurality ofiiller strips, assembling the same in a suitable .form with cement oradhesive to unite the layers; and thereupon subject the picker to amolding operation which ,will aid in consolidating and aligning the massoi the picker in which the shuttle-receiving recess is formed with thestick-engaging loop or portion; "and, furthermore, forming the face bybeveling, compressing, or the like so as 'to pren sent a symmetrical,even, and balanced strucu ture.

Furthermore, we prefer to utilize a plurality of thicknesses i'or theouter portion of the picker, which may be thus formed of two or morestrips, or with one strip wound two or more times around the fillermembers and the form on which the same are assembled. When a pluralityof such layers are thus utilized, we also prefer to bevel the loweredges so that when positioning the picker on the picker stick, thefitting may be facilitated, and as the piclter is driven onto the pickerstick, which latter is also wedge-shaped at the top, the plurality oilayers around the loop will not be separated.

Referring to the drawing illustrating a preferred embodiment of ourinvention and the method of making same:

Fig. l is a side view illustrating in diagrammatic form our improvedpicker on a picker sticl-i and illustrative partially of the path oinuovi-im merit of the picker and stick in association with a portion ofthe shuttle;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan View of our proved picker made in accordancewith oui presJ ent method;

Fig. 3 is a front view of the picker on the saine scale as Fig. 2,'

l indicates the up on which is tteol our improved picker designated at2; and '1n dotted lines is shown at 3 the end portion of a shuttle whichis thrown across the loom by the action of the picker stick, and isreceived on the opposite ,side Foy a picker or other device in the usualstandard and well-known type of loom. 4 designates the bottom line ofthe shuttle box on which the shuttle 3 rests and travels at either endof its reciprocating movement.

The picker of our present invention may be made of any suitable yieldingmaterial, such as leather, plastic, rubber compound, or the like but,preferably,`is madefrom a plurality of leather strips or layers andwill, accordingly, be so described.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 5We utilize a leather strip I of suillcientlength to constitute the outer and encircling portion of the entirepicker stick, preferably having a plurality of thickness therearound,including the loop portion of the picker which engages the :pickerstick. A plurality of inner strips or layers I2, I 4, and I6 areassembled, by cement or otherwise, and thereupon the strip I0 is woundabout said filler strips I2, I4, and I6 and a form starting at I8 (seeFigs. 2 and beinga bent around the outer end of the filler pieces, asshown at IS, and then along the side around the opposite picker stickform, as indicated at 2|, and then along the side 22 across the frontportion 23 (see Fig. 5) and then on the outer surface, as indicated at24, 25, 26, 21, and 28, ending in a lbevelled portion at to give asmooth finish and an extra. doubled thickness across the main or bodyportion of the picker. Thereupon, rivets 33 and 35 are appliedsubstantially as shown, and thereafter the front or striking face of thepicker is bevelled, as shown at and 4I, to form a symmetrical faceportion 50, in which we pre-formthe shuttle-receiving recess, asindicated at 55, in a symmetrical and balanced position relatively withthe face: portion 50, which face portion is somewhat eccentricrelatively with the main mass or body portion of the picker.

If desired, the shuttle-receiving recess can, of course, be formed rstand then the bevelled faces 40 and 4I formed to insure the recess beingin proper and balanced relation with the face of the picker, which willinsure an even wearing between the shuttle and picker recess andeliminate largely, if not entirely, the normal tendency in the picker todistort the location of such a recess during the continuous hammeringand blows incident to use.

With the form removed, a picker stick-engaging opening 60 is left in thepicker and the entire plurality of layers being firmly united,preferably by cement and pressure, as well as by the rivets, constitutesa wear-resisting and long-lasting picker with the balanced constructionof our invention as described.

The bevelling of the surfaces at 40 and 4I are further important besidesinsuring a predetermined symmetrical face for the shuttle-receivingrecess since these also permit longer layers I2, I4, and I6 to beutilized and, hence, a greater mass of material in the body portion ofthe picker without interfering with the arc of travel of the Lpickerduring reciprocating travel of the shuttle and picker stick. Also, byhaving the stick-receiving loop and the shuttle-receiving recess inalignment and in balanced relation, our improvedpicker can be utilizedinterchangeably either for rights or lefts, and hence this advantageeliminates the necessity heretofore required of having two sets ofpickers, one forrights and one for lefts, which formerly involvedkeeping such two sets in stock, and the expense incident thereto.

We claim:

The improved method of manufacturing leather pickers of the kinddescribed, interchangeable for either rights or lefts, which consists inassembling a plurality of filler layers of leather side by side inassociation with a form simulating a picker stick, thereupon windingabout the ller strips and the form an enclosing layer of adhesivelycoated leather to constitute a. plurality of layers secured together byadhesive both across the face of the filler and around the form with theface and loop portions relatively disaligned, thereupon molding thepicker, compressing the manier before the adhesive has set of both saidller and enclosing strips into centralized balanced alignment with theloop around the picker stick form, thereupon trimming the face of thepicker at both top and bottom to constitute a further balancedrelationship of said face with said loop, and thereupon pre-forming a.shuttlereceiving recess centrally ofthe trimmed and compressed head,whereby said recess in the face

